Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Car break-ins rattle Norwood Gardens

Residents of Norwood Gardens in Astoria have been advised to keep a close check on their cars and GPS, after a rash of auto break-ins has made them nervous about leaving anything valuable in their cars.

Residents report that areas around 35th, 36th and 37th streets at 30th Avenue have been the worst affected, with the Norwood Neighborhood Association estimating that there has been at least one break-in per night over the last few weeks.

Residents point out that the crimes spike over the weekends, when an influx of outsiders crowd bars and restaurants in the busy 30th Avenue commercial area.

Pearl Thomas was affected when her boyfriend’s parents’ luxury 2007 Audi was broken into. “You know, it’s embarrassing,” Thomas said. “I’ve lived in Astoria for the last seven years and they’ve [the boyfriend’s parents] visited us before and nothing happened. And now, we move into this area and the car gets broken into,” the 36th Street resident said.

The Audi was parked on 36th Street between 30th and 31st avenues when the incident occurred in the last week of March. Luckily for Thomas, the perpetrators didn’t walk away with too much, except for a beloved CD with a collection of sheet music.

Thomas thinks thieves were probably looking to steal the car’s GPS, but couldn’t get their hands on it, as the instrument is built into this particular model.

When asked who might be behind the break-ins, [Councilman Peter] Vallone said he was skeptical that 30th Avenue revelers had anything to do with the rise in crime, saying people who wanted to enjoy a dinner out weren’t likely to be stealing GPSs.

Having lived off 30th Avenue a few decades ago, I can say it once was the main shopping district for the residents that live in the Norwood Gardens area.

No more.

Its lined with cafes, and as far as Mr Public Safety is concerned, the business owners catering the hookah set or the souped up Mazda driving eurotrash from Great Neck seems to be more important than sustaining a viable local community.

This is why people should never trust Peter Vallone. Maybe instead of sending our complaints to 311 we should telephone the councilman's office. Why is he the chair of public safety when he can't even keep Astoria safe?

I heard theres been 50+ burglaries in 20s north of Astoria Blvd in the past 2 months. Also heard someone tried to rob the Capital One bank (again) on Steinway St last week. Are the bad old days returning?

Norwood Gardens was given it's "name" by the residents of NNA who live on 35th 36th and 37th Streets - many are 3rd generation Astorians and life long residents, a large majority 15 - 20 year residents and some moved here few years ago. Common interest: members of NNA care about their community and are actively working to make Norwood Gardens a better place to live. Three Norwood Gardens blocks (not one) received the zoning they stood up and fought for. Petitions with over 100 signatures of the homeowners were submitted to City Planning, rallys were held and residents here were one of the very few community groups to attende the many public hearings on the resoning. A lot of hard work and effort has been expended since 2002. Unfortunately many communities are not organized and without the determined and vocal support of residents they can't get anything done. We have had great success on many fronts due to unflagging and generous commitment of time and effort of the residents of Norwood Gardens.

Unless Norwood Gardens (read the handful of people living on 'Doctor's Row' which is what everyone has called it for years in Astoria) wises up and stops thinking they can go it alone, they will wake up one day and find themselves an island in a sea of tenament development.

They lost years after that development almost destroyed their block doing nothing - and if they think the new zoning is going to save them they are in for a rude shock.

They had better wake up and start working with others a hell of a lot better - the cold response from Mr Public Safety should be a wakeup call.

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